JPNC Zoning votes no on Parkside housing

PARKSIDE—Over a dozen neighbors and interested parties attended a Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (JPNC) Zoning Committee meeting on Jan. 8 to oppose a proposed residential development at 18 Robeson St.

The committee voted unanimously to deny its support to the project, proposed by City Real Estate Development Corp. of Brighton.

The proposed project would renovate the existing three-family house and create a new living unit in the building’s basement, changing it to a four-unit building. It would also demolish the existing garage and create a whole new three-family building in the back of the 13,000-square-foot lot. That new structure would have the address of 21 Rocky Nook Terrace.

A group of neighbors and abutters presented letters against the project, asking that the committee not support the developer’s request for the multiple variances needed for the project.

“There is nothing unique about the property to justify allowing the proposed new construction in violation of the [Zoning] Code,” abutter Clare Conley read aloud from her letter of opposition.

“We believe it would set a horrible precedent,” she added.

Committee member Bernard Doherty also vocally opposed the project.

“All I see is you trying to stuff something in there to make a profit,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything so congested.”